Published on Mar 30, 2013After General Kim Jong Il's visit to Russia, he admired Orthodox Church of Russia, the oldest branch of Christianity, so he decided to build Orthodox Church in Pyongyang, capital of DPRK. Russian Orthodox Church trained Korean priests and Orthodox bishop came to Pyongyang and blessed the Church, now Russian Orthodox Christian minority that lives in Pyongyang along with Korean Orthodox Christians have place of worship to God.

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"The Scots-Irish; Brewed in Scotland, bottled in Ireland, uncorked in America." ~Scots-Irish saying

Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.—St. Isaac of Syria

I don't think I'm about to swallow a fairy tale about the Dear Dictator, being struck by the outward form is not the same as conversion. And North Korea has an appalling record of abuse toward its' unfortunate citizens.

"Your children shall become the head, but you... will become the tail of the Church; therefore your judges will be those who have always preserved the Catholic Faith... they will be the Orthodox and true Catholics since they have never accepted heretics... but have remained zealous for the True Faith." (Western Bishops' Response to Pope Vigilius)

That'd really be something if Kim Jong Il were building churches in North Korea. He's been dead for a few years.

well his father was made eternal president of the republic post mortem.

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Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

- Giving the people an opportunity to practice extreme asceticism- Guiding the people with a firm hand, as opposed to this mob rule (aka democracy)- Protecting them from the corrupting influence of "the west"- Giving hagiographic-like stories of the leaders for the people to admire and emulate- Standing up to all forms of Enlightenment-think- Taking the sensible precaution of keeping people poor, thereby preventing consumerism from taking root

- Giving the people an opportunity to practice extreme asceticism- Guiding the people with a firm hand, as opposed to this mob rule (aka democracy)- Protecting them from the corrupting influence of "the west"- Giving hagiographic-like stories of the leaders for the people to admire and emulate- Standing up to all forms of Enlightenment-think- Taking the sensible precaution of keeping people poor, thereby preventing consumerism from taking root

The Dear Little Dictator heads a bloody regime which beggars belief. For anyone to suggest because a self indulgent playboy indulges in an eccentric episode of building equates somehow to a demonstration of an Orthodox mindset simply beggars belief. This same character sees his people starve, lives the high life and spends the nations coffers on an arms race they simply cannot afford.

The Dear Little Dictator heads a bloody regime which beggars belief. For anyone to suggest because a self indulgent playboy indulges in an eccentric episode of building equates somehow to a demonstration of an Orthodox mindset simply beggars belief. This same character sees his people starve, lives the high life and spends the nations coffers on an arms race they simply cannot afford.

??

No, no, no. You have it all wrong. He encourages the citizenry in asceticism and can be likened unto St. Paul who was willing to sacrifice his own salvation for the sake of his people. I personally believe he might be the reincarnation of St. Constantine.

The Dear Little Dictator heads a bloody regime which beggars belief. For anyone to suggest because a self indulgent playboy indulges in an eccentric episode of building equates somehow to a demonstration of an Orthodox mindset simply beggars belief. This same character sees his people starve, lives the high life and spends the nations coffers on an arms race they simply cannot afford.

??

No, no, no. You have it all wrong. He encourages the citizenry in asceticism and can be likened unto St. Paul who was willing to sacrifice his own salvation for the sake of his people. I personally believe he might be the reincarnation of St. Constantine.

My, my... you do like to skate on the thin ice covering blasphemy to make a point..... I get it, but others....maybe not so much.....

The Dear Little Dictator heads a bloody regime which beggars belief. For anyone to suggest because a self indulgent playboy indulges in an eccentric episode of building equates somehow to a demonstration of an Orthodox mindset simply beggars belief. This same character sees his people starve, lives the high life and spends the nations coffers on an arms race they simply cannot afford.

??

No, no, no. You have it all wrong. He encourages the citizenry in asceticism and can be likened unto St. Paul who was willing to sacrifice his own salvation for the sake of his people. I personally believe he might be the reincarnation of St. Constantine.

My, my... you do like to skate on the thin ice covering blasphemy to make a point..... I get it, but others....maybe not so much.....

I get accused of blasphemy an awful lot.

I have not been irreverent towards God neither have I claimed any attributes of God.

The Dear Little Dictator heads a bloody regime which beggars belief. For anyone to suggest because a self indulgent playboy indulges in an eccentric episode of building equates somehow to a demonstration of an Orthodox mindset simply beggars belief. This same character sees his people starve, lives the high life and spends the nations coffers on an arms race they simply cannot afford.

??

No, no, no. You have it all wrong. He encourages the citizenry in asceticism and can be likened unto St. Paul who was willing to sacrifice his own salvation for the sake of his people. I personally believe he might be the reincarnation of St. Constantine.

My, my... you do like to skate on the thin ice covering blasphemy to make a point..... I get it, but others....maybe not so much.....

I get accused of blasphemy an awful lot.

I have not been irreverent towards God neither have I claimed any attributes of God.

Profound irreverence perhaps not directed towards God, but rather to the foibles of human beings? In my book, one needs to be so from time to time lest one get 'way tooooo serious....' I know that some will not understand what I mean, but I think you get it.

The one Catholic church in the capital has no priest and is not connected with Rome because the government wont allow the Vatican to name a priest to the post. The Congregation holds prayer services. And, each service is monitored by a N.K. state official to ensure there is no seditious sermons or allowed to distribute bibles.My question is 'why now?' What makes you think the Orthodox Church wont be placed under similar restrictions.? Kim Jong Il is suffering from an international PR problem and he may be using this as a way of improving his image abroad. Kim is a calculating individual and isn't known for being a philanthropist. He's got a reason for everything that happens in N.K. Nothing is done without his approval.

Kim Jong Il is suffering from an international PR problem and he may be using this as a way of improving his image abroad. Kim is a calculating individual and isn't known for being a philanthropist. He's got a reason for everything that happens in N.K. Nothing is done without his approval.

Kim Jon Il cannot be suffering from a PR problem as he is dead.

Kim Jong Un, the son, is the current guy.

I know its all terribly confusing with the names since Un brings to mind 'one' and Il brings to mind the roman II for 'two' but its the other way around....

Maybe he will declare himself emperor and finally call an ecumenical council for us

We are not trying to be sarcastic but North Korea is what it is. The most closed society on Earth with the most dialectic Communist Party running everything and everyone down to the last person in the household. Its literally a land of Zombies if you will.

Kim Jong Il is suffering from an international PR problem and he may be using this as a way of improving his image abroad. Kim is a calculating individual and isn't known for being a philanthropist. He's got a reason for everything that happens in N.K. Nothing is done without his approval.

Kim Jon Il cannot be suffering from a PR problem as he is dead.

Kim Jong Un, the son, is the current guy.

I know its all terribly confusing with the names since Un brings to mind 'one' and Il brings to mind the roman II for 'two' but its the other way around....

Maybe they are counting down to an explosion or something....

I appreciate you correction, yes, some of these names can be confusing. Thanks again.

Watching the video just confirms this is a nice parish for Russians that live and work there. The North Korean observers were there because they had to be. The only Korean Christians I could see were the priests and their wives. I think this parish was built for the sake of Russian money, not that Kim Jong Il/Un (whoever built it) actualy cared about Christianity in their country. I pray that those observers' hearts were softened somehow.

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Happy shall he be, that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock. Alleluia.

- Giving the people an opportunity to practice extreme asceticism- Guiding the people with a firm hand, as opposed to this mob rule (aka democracy)- Protecting them from the corrupting influence of "the west"- Giving hagiographic-like stories of the leaders for the people to admire and emulate- Standing up to all forms of Enlightenment-think- Taking the sensible precaution of keeping people poor, thereby preventing consumerism from taking root